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Early Intervention. Lifelong Outcomes.

Jay's Story
Jay’s Story

Jay called himself the worst kid in Australia.. he was only 6…

J is a child with multiple diagnoses and trauma. He loved school but, unfortunately, was expelled in grade 3. He felt rejected by the world and fell into a dark place. It was not possible for him to attend school. He was placed on a medical exemption for 12 months. No schoolwork was provided.

Thankfully Little Stars accepted him into their program. He was delighted to receive their welcome pack.

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Trauma Doesn’t End at the School Gate

At Little Stars Foundation, we exist to stand beside some of Queensland’s most vulnerable children and young people – those who have experienced significant trauma, loss, and instability, and who are now living in out-of-home care. Currently there are over 12,000 young people living in care in Queensland and over 45,000 across Australia.

These young people carry complex stories. Many have endured multiple forms of abuse, exposure to domestic violence, neglect, disrupted schooling, and emotional upheaval long before entering care. Once in care, they continue to face significant challenges that affect every part of their development, wellbeing and future.

A child who had been suspended or expelled from school now learning

Little Stars taught her how to believe in herself…

Thanks to the Little Stars Learners program, Miss 10 has grown in confidence and self-belief.

The one-on-one Learning and Well-being Support is so beneficial, as the work and how it is presented can be tailored to suit each individual child, unlike in the classroom, where everyone has to learn in the same way at the same time.

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Why Our Work Matters

The 2024 Children in Care Census paints a confronting picture

Child symbolising hope through early educational support

Multiple layers of trauma:

  • 69% of children enter care having experienced three or more forms of abuse or harm.
  • 88% have experienced emotional abuse.
  • 83% have experienced neglect.
  • 68% have been exposed to domestic violence.

High emotional and mental health needs:

  • 41% have a diagnosed or suspected disability.
  • 20% have a diagnosed or suspected mental illness.
  • 31% have intellectual functioning that is limited or severely limited.
  • 28% of children aged 10 and over have self-harmed or are currently self-harming.
Child appearing withdrawn, symbolising high emotional and mental health needs
Sad child resting on hand, symbolising the impact of educational instability

Education instability:

Over 30% of school-aged children have been excluded or suspended from school – often linked to unmet trauma, emotional regulation, and neurodevelopmental needs.

Lifelong consequences:

As young people transition to adulthood currently:

  • Over half will require public housing.
  • Around 1 in 3 will require NDIS support into adulthood.
  • Almost half experience emotional dysregulation that limits their ability to engage in school, work or life.
Teenager looking away, representing the lifelong consequences of early trauma

Behind each statistic is a young person who deserves stability, connection and hope and better outcomes for the young person and our community.   Early, tailored intervention can make all the difference.

Sad child resting on hand, symbolising the impact of educational instability

He achieved an ‘A’ for science. Wow! …

L has a few learning difficulties when it comes to his academic achievements at school. His handwriting in particular was quite poor, and his executive functioning skills also required a high level of support. He also experienced difficulties in sequencing, especially with maths.

Then L’s new life with me began – big adjustments all around; a fairly structured home environment with a daily timetable which included ……

Read full story

Our Approach

At Little Stars Foundation, we focus on:

Trauma-informed learning support

Helping children remain engaged at school despite the enormous challenges they face.

Individualised wellbeing care

Supporting emotional regulation, coping strategies, and healing for children with complex trauma histories.

Family and carer collaboration

Working alongside carers, schools and professionals to build stable, supportive environments.

Culturally responsive care

Supporting First Nations children to remain connected to culture, country, and identity.

Advocacy for systemic change

Raising awareness of the depth of need, and advocating for earlier, better-resourced, and more integrated responses.

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Struggles Children Face
Struggles Children Face
Program Outcomes
Program Outcomes
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Our impact so far

Worth of learning & wellbeing support scholarships provided by us to young people in out-of-home care
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Learning & wellbeing support hours provided to young people in out-of-home care
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Scholarship learning & wellbeing support hours completed
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Worth of duffle bags and school bags to young people entering emergency care
$ 0
Worth of camps, theatre trips, AFL games & fun days out
$ 0
Little Stars Foundation Logo

Corporate House
Gasworks Plaza
Level 2, Skyring Place
76 Skyring Terrace
Newstead QLD 4006

Phone: 07 3062 9455

info@littlestarsfoundation.com.au

Little Stars Foundation acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians. We recognise their cultures, histories and diversity and their deep connection to the lands, waters and seas of Queensland and the Torres Strait.

We acknowledge the Jagera people and the Turrbal people as the Traditional Custodians of Meanjin (Brisbane), the lands on which our office is located and where we meet, work and learn. We pay our respects to Jagera and Turrbal Elders past, present and emerging

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He called himself the worst kid in Australia…

J is a child with multiple diagnoses and trauma. He loved school but, unfortunately, was expelled in grade 3. He felt rejected by the world and fell into a dark place. It was not possible for him to attend school. He was placed on a medical exemption for 12 months. No schoolwork was provided.

Thankfully Little Stars accepted him into their program. He was delighted to receive their welcome pack.

His Learning and Wellbeing Support Mentor had a hard job. He called himself the worst kid in Australia. There was work avoidance, meltdowns, etc. Picking up a pencil often triggered him. They had to gain trust and be creative in their approaches to engage him. This meant using play and focusing learning around his interests.

J’s reading significantly improved. He would ask for books that I thought were too advanced, but he could read them. They introduced him to new topics which he found fascinating. He found the confidence to attempt work. This was huge. Previously if he didn’t know an answer, he would punch himself in the face.

His Learning Support Mentor showed him he is capable. Their positive energy and belief in him helped change his opinion of himself and prepared him to return to school. He is now in grade 6 through distance education with passing grades. His Little Stars Learning Support Mentor is there every week to encourage and assist him with schoolwork. His teachers have noticed improvements too.

J’s Foster Carer

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Little Stars taught her how to believe in herself…

Thanks to the Little Stars Learners program, Miss 10 has grown in confidence and self-belief.

The one-on-one Learning and Well-being Support is so beneficial, as the work and how it is presented can be tailored to suit each individual child, unlike in the classroom, where everyone has to learn in the same way at the same time.

The skills and knowledge Miss 10 has learnt and continues to learn during her Support sessions will spread across all other aspects of her life moving forward and will teach her not to give up, to know that she has the skills to do it if she sets her mind to it, and most importantly, to believe in herself.

Miss 10’s Foster Carer

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He achieved an ‘A’ for science. Wow! …

L has a few learning difficulties when it comes to his academic achievements at school. His handwriting in particular was quite poor, and his executive functioning skills also required a high level of support. He also experienced difficulties in sequencing, especially with maths.

Then L’s new life with me began – big adjustments all around; a fairly structured home environment with a daily timetable which included reading and homework. Together, we were on the path to healing and finding a new, compassionate normal, but homework was our nemesis. I am a teacher who deeply values curiosity and learning. However, my grandchild demonstrated the true grit of their character that had helped them previously to survive; the absolute determination that they would not do the homework. L hated schoolwork, they couldn’t do it, and they were certainly not going to be doing any of it at home.

I was at a loss. I received email after email from teachers stating that L was not engaging in class, not handing in homework and assignments, and was failing, still. It began to impact our relationship.

Then we received a Little Stars scholarship. Over the year, under the tutelage of Kate (Little Stars Learning Support Mentor ‘extraordinaire’), my grandchild began to engage in their learning for the first time ever. Kate received trauma-informed training from Little Stars, which meant that my grandchild’s well-being and the establishment of a relationship were the top priority for Kate. When ‘L’ felt safe and valued in the first instance, the learning and improvement in results and in self-esteem began. Kate uses genuine care, playfulness, empathy, and acceptance in her Learning Support repertoire, and collaboratively with L, they set goals for each term. Kate works to L’s strengths and discusses metacognitive strategies for the learning challenges that L experiences – the focus is always on improvement.

Together, they not only work on current homework, but they map out the term requirements for each subject on a planner and ‘back chain’ from there so that they have a visual support to refer to; thus, addressing the organisational goals that L and Kate have formulated.

They celebrate every little success and talk about small, manageable steps for improvement in areas where L is struggling. It amazes me that even when L is tired and has had a rough day at school (and there are still many of those), they never complain when the learning starts again in the late afternoon, with Kate. School reports now have more pass marks than comments about failure and disengagement. And for the report that was sent to us, L achieved an ‘A’ for science. Wow!

I cannot emphasise enough how important this scholarship from Little Stars is to L and to me as a grandmother and as my grandchild’s carer – our relationship is much less fractious and strained because homework and school behaviour were our greatest sticking point. Just a year or so ago, L’s self-regulation at school, confidence, and possible future choices were looking extremely limited and grim. By Year 9, a student’s life chances are profoundly affected by their engagement in and their attitude towards their learning.

As a direct result of the Little Stars programme, L’s future has the possibility of expansive future choices in a fulfilling career. This can have the ‘knock-on’ effect of financial security, wider life experiences, and most importantly, a pathway to a positive sense of self.

L’s Kinship Carer